Music
Log Cabins and Railway Carriages
The cabin was built about 1860 and was set in the woods near the top of a ridge.
It is amazing where music will lead you. In this case – to a shotgun shack in the Appalachian Mountains and an art deco railway carriage in Chattanooga.
Recently we went to a gig by US folk artist Diana Jones. She sings songs of Appalachia. Mine disasters, murders – cheerful stuff. She’s very good – and talked about recording her latest album in a shotgun shack at the Museum of Appalachia.
As we were due back in the US of A for a wedding – this was too good an opportunity to miss. So we headed south into the Tennessee Hills.
Webmaster John gets megapoints for booking us into a cabin on a ridge.
There was no wi fi, and barely anything resembling mobile phone service. It was like stepping back into another era. Continue reading
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Recipe for an English Folk Festival
The festival begins
It’s August – so webmaster John and I have been settling down in fields with a few thousand close friends for that most English of events – folk festivals.
I’d never been to such an event before coming to England – and despite my impressive attendance record at such events during the past few years, I am still sometimes surprised – after all, who would have expected the guillotine…
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A master class in story-telling.
Paul Kelly - master story-teller
In a small bar in lower Manhattan last night, an Australian singer-songwriter showed me just what great story telling is all about.
Paul Kelly has written a lot of songs in the past 30 years – and over two nights he’s playing a slection of them …. in alphabetical order.
He made me cry three times (or was it four) – and he only got as far as L.
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Camping by the river with Pete
The Hudson River at sunset
I’ve just returned from the most fabulous weekend – camping on the banks of the magnificent Hudson River – and singing along with one of my heroes – the amazing Pete Seeger.
Most people know Pete as a great folk singer. As a child at school, I had folk singing classes – and learned If I Had a Hammer , Turn Turn Turn and Where have All the Flowers Gone?
At the time I didn’t understand their significance as protest songs – that came later. I never thought I’d get to sing them along with Pete.
Last weekend I did just that, along with 15,000 other people at the great Hudson River revival – a music festival like none I’ve even been to before. Continue reading
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